One Blood
by Chedder Fries
Summary: I rewrote the ending to this one. I didn't like the other one. Please review and tell me what you think.


Inuyasha

Another blurb

Disclaimer: All characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi. All but Anayame, who belongs to me. Woot.

One Blood

The forest was quiet and devoid of any motion. The night birds sang quietly, oblivious to what was going on beneath them. The fire blazed brightly, warming my body as I lay underneath a blanket. Through half closed eyes, I looked at Inuyasha, sitting placidly beside me. His arms crossed over his chest, his legs folded. The Tetsusaiga was there, nestled against his chest. His eyes were closed, but I knew he wasn't sleeping. Inuyasha had more energy than I.

"You should get some rest." He said, causing me to jump a little. He'd caught me looking at him? Figures.

"You should, too." I said. I curled tighter beneath my blanket.

"I'll be fine." He replied. I sighed and closed my eyes complete. Only to feel something… strong heading in our direction. It wasn't a jewel shard, it was something else. I felt priestess power and miasma trickle across my skin like a thousand tiny needles poking me.

I sat up quickly. "You feel it?" Inuyasha asked me, he was sniffing the air.

"Yeah." I replied.

"How could she be alive? I thought I killed her." Inuyasha got up. I did as well.

"You can't kill something that's already dead." I said, shaking my head. He started to leave, I put my hand on his arm. The firerat kimono was surprisingly soft under my palm. He looked at me.

"Don't go, Inuyasha." I pleaded.

"I have to." He said, he pulled his arm back. He leapt into the air and disappeared into the forest. I sighed in defeat, I knew who he was going after. I smothered the fire, putting it out. Then I ran toward the feeling I was getting. The closer I got, the stronger it was. I felt my heart thunder in my chest, and I knew that it wasn't from running. It was because I was about the face the reason why I was here.

"Ana!"

I heard a voice call. I stopped and looked toward the tree line. I was breathing heavily. I ran a hand through my red/brown hair, scanning the forest with amber brown eyes. My jeans were a bit wet from the grass, my burnt orange t-shirt was set against the darkness. The long white sleeves that came from the shirt I wore underneath it gave me an odd glow in the night.

"Who's there?" I called back. The brush rustled and I saw a form come out of it. It was a man with long black hair, pulled into a ponytail. He wore an armored breastplate with fur around his shoulders. His furred loin cloth fell to mid thigh. He didn't wear shoes, instead his calves were wound with fur. His tail twitched behind him. He wore a sword, but I don't think I'd ever seen him use it. I sighed in relief as Koga walked up to me.

We had just met Koga a few days ago. We helped his tribe of wolf demons destroy these things called "Birds of Paradise." Koga was their leader and he had Shikon shards in his legs which made him run faster than any other demon alive.

"Everything alright?" He asked me. "You seem to be in an awful hurry."

"Yeah." I replied.

"Where's the mutt?" He asked. He looked around, sniffing the air around me.

"Trying to save someone's soul." I grumped. "If she even has a soul."

"Need a lift?" He gave me a crooked smile and held out his hand.

"That would be really nice." I said, taking his hand. He pulled me into his arms and we started to run. We leapt from a boulder to a tree branch then to another branch.

"That way. I can feel it getting stronger." I said pointing to the right. We headed in that direction. We landed in the twisted branches of a maple tree and Koga set me down gently. I stood against the trunk, he crouched beside me.

Below me was a scene that blew my mind. Kikyo stood against an old tree, quiet and solemn. Her Soul Collectors - little snake-like creatures with long bodies and four legs - swirled around her in silence. Inuyasha stood before her, his chest heaving up and down from running.

"Why have you come, Inuyasha?" Her voice was icy and devoid of any feeling beside anger and hate.

"I wanted to see if you were alive." Inuyasha stammered, I'd never seen him like this. Totally speechless. "I thought I killed you."

"You will find that I am full of surprises." Kikyo said. "Where is the girl?"

"I don't know, I left her behind. I don't think she followed." He said. I shot a look at Koga, he looked back at me, then toward the scene ahead.

"Do you love this girl? This… Anayame?" She asked. I felt my heart stop, she put so much venom in her voice when she said my name, and I felt weak. I put my hand on Koga's shoulder to keep from falling, he put his hand on mine.

"No. Well, at least… I don't think." Inuyasha admitted. "She's nothing to me, it's you I keep thinking of. I never stopped. Not even for a minute!" His confession resounded in my ears as if he'd said it loudly and it echoed off of the trees. We'd been traveling together for a few months and I thought we were friends - at the very least!

Kikyo fell forward and hugged Inuyasha. He was caught by surprise before he hugged her in return. It was an embrace that death couldn't take. They had been in love and tricked to think that their love had turned to hate.

"Come with me, Inuyasha. Come where we can be together for ever." Kikyo said.

"Yes." Inuyasha replied, but he was in a trance. Wait. My brow furrowed. I felt her motive in the pit of my stomach. She wanted to kill him. Use his weakness for her against him. She kissed him, my heart jumped into my throat. I felt something big happening. Beneath the two, a portal opened. A portal to Hell.

"Anayame, I don't like the look of this." Koga said.

"I don't either." I replied.

"You in?" He asked.

"Right behind you." I answered. He leapt down off of the tree. I was right behind him. I fell from the tree and landed in a crouch at its base.

The woman looked toward me, Koga stood at my side, his claws ready to strike. I was in a fighting stance, of course, I didn't know what I could do. Not against Kikyo.

"As much as I hate that mutt, I want to be the one to kill him. Let him go!" Koga said, he charged. I ran toward Inuyasha. Kikyo let Inuyasha go and struck Koga down with her bow. He was fazed, but otherwise fine.

"Inuyasha! Inuyasha wake up!" I cried. I grabbed his arms.

"You!" She said. Kikyo struck me, I fell off to the side, but I also saw a hand-shaped red mark on her face as well.

Koga was up and he attacked once more. He kicked her in the stomach that threw her into the tree behind her. I went backwards as well, folded over with a cry. Koga looked at me worriedly, as if Inuyasha had attacked me. It would have given the wolf demon an excuse to fight Inuyasha. But what he saw was me curled up on myself, my arms around my stomach. I tried to bring my breath back. Kikyo recovered faster than I and tugged on Inuyasha's arms, trying to pull him to her.

The portal beneath the two opened more. The ground started to sink. Wind whipped at my clothing and hair. The forest darkened with demonic energy. My stomach turned from it. It was a sickening thing, miasma. It hangs thick in the air like a purple fog but has an odor more foul than twenty pairs of dirty gym socks. Nothing man made could have created this smell. The smell of sulfur and brimstone was sickening to regular noses, like human ones. But to Koga and Inuyasha who could smell things out better than any human, it must have been unbearable. Koga showed no disgust for it.

"You get hurt when she gets hurt?" Koga asked me over the roaring wind, he helped me to my feet. He let me lean on him so I wouldn't fall.

"It's a reincarnation thing. Look, Koga, get her away from him. Just don't kill her. Bruises heal, I don't want to die." I said.

"You sure?" He asked.

"Just do it, dammit!" I said. He jumped back as if he'd been slapped, but nodded anyway. I stood on my own now. He let me go and attacked Kikyo. She pulled away from Inuyasha, the half demon fell. I was there, I slid across the wet grass on my knees and caught him.

I felt a sharp pain in my side, Koga had struck Kikyo. "Why don't you just leave us alone!?" Kikyo shrieked.

The dead priestess attacked Koga with a spirit arrow. The wolf demon dodged it easily. He appeared behind Kikyo and pushed her down. I felt intense pain on my back. He slashed at her, catching her arm. Three identical scratches appeared on mine. I dragged Inuyasha away from the battle, unconscious and shocked. Koga kicked Kikyo in the chest. She folded over and so did I. I lay across Inuyasha's chest and tried to get my breath back.

"You wench!" She yelled at me. "Inuyasha is mine! I will have my revenge!"

I stood slowly and let Inuyasha lay. The wind was still strong and the demonic power was still rising. I walked toward Kikyo on shaky legs, my face even and stern. With bruises where she had slapped me and where Koga had hit her. My body was in pain, but my will was strong. Koga leapt off of a boulder and stood a little bit behind me, looking at her over my shoulder. Ready to back me up at a moment's notice.

"He didn't do anything." I said simply.

She looked at me and didn't say anything else. So I continued. "You were both tricked by Naraku. He pretended to be Inuyasha to try to steal the jewel and kill you. Apparently, he succeeded with one and not the other. Inuyasha didn't kill you. Naraku did!" I said.

"Lies! All of it!" She yelled, she held an arrow in her bow and fired it. Koga grabbed me around the waist. He pulled me down and the arrow hit the tree behind us. Koga's arm still around me, I sat up just a little.

"Looks like you're not making any progress." Koga said.

"No." I replied. I got up and faced Kikyo again. "The only reason why I'm here is because your sister did as you instructed her. The jewel was inside me. I'm you! If I bleed, you bleed." I rolled up my sleeve to show her the scratches Koga had dealt her. She looked at her arm, then looked back at me. "If you want to live to have your revenge, I suggest you don't kill me."

"How can this be?" She asked. Kikyo looked at her hands, then to the fallen Inuyasha, still under the influence of her demonic aura. She looked at me and Koga - standing protectively at my side. "How?"

"It doesn't matter, now." I told her, shaking my head. "It is the way it is."

"This was you're doing." Kikyo growled.

"I'm just as much a pawn in this as you are, Kikyo." I said.

I heard Inuyasha moan as he came back to consciousness. He stood up slowly and looked at Koga and myself; then toward Kikyo. "What's going on?" He asked. He stood beside me. "What's happening? Kikyo? Ana?" He asked, it was the first time he'd ever called me "Ana." Koga was behind us, but I knew that at a moment's notice he could get me out of the way in a hurry if I needed it. Koga was indebted to me, after all.

"I will have you, Inuyasha." Kikyo growled. She drew her bow again and let loose her arrow, straight for Inuyasha's heart.

"No!" I cried. It all happened in slow motion. The arrow sliced the air toward Inuyasha, its spiritual energy growing around its head. I leapt into action and pushed Inuyasha out of the way, my back to Kikyo. The arrow landed in the back of my left shoulder toward my spine. I let out a cry of pain as I was hit with Kikyo's energy. It wasn't pure like mine. There was an evil to it and the evil burned in my body as my own pure energy tried to combat it. I felt Inuyasha's arms around me as he caught me before I fell. I felt my head resting on his knee as he crouched to the ground. The arrow was still in my back. I turned my head a little to see Kikyo doubled over as well. She was holding her left shoulder. She looked at me with large brown eyes and a pale face. Her Soul Collectors wrapped around her body and carried her into the night.

"Ana!?" Koga cried. The wolf was there, he pushed Inuyasha out of the way. Inuyasha sat back and didn't fight him, a look of shock and horror and disbelief on his otherwise handsome face. Koga put his hand around the arrow and pulled it out of its place in my back. I cried out and closed my eyes. My breathing was shallow. I felt the burning of energies in my body as they fought. Kikyo's dark energy and my pure energy were fighting for supremacy in every vein of my body.

I closed my eyes then opened them, not wanting unconsciousness to claim me. Darkness played at the edge of my vision. I looked up and saw Koga watching over me with worry. I turned my head slightly, sweat dripping into my eyes. I blinked it away. Inuyasha looked back at me. "Koga, give her here." Inuyasha said. His voice seemed far away somehow.

"I don't think so. It's your fault this happened, you stupid mutt! Anayame is a fool to save the likes of you." Koga snapped.

"Shut up!" Inuyasha growled. "You can blame me all you want for this, but it's Ana we have to worry about now!"

"Alright fine." Koga muttered. I felt Inuyasha lift me up gently; blood stained my clothing coming from my back. But all that mattered was the pain in my body; that tremendous searing pain that burned like fire and frostbite at the same time. "My pack isn't far from here. You take her there. I'll go after your medicine witch, Kaede." Koga stated. I heard him take off quickly, pushing the Jewel Shards in his legs to the very edge of their power. I laid my head against Inuyasha's chest, he held me closer to him as he took off in the opposite direction.

"You hang on, priestess. Don't you die on me." Inuyasha said as he ran. "I don't want to bury you."

"F… far too lazy?" I muttered. His ear twitched as he ran, I saw a smile playing at the corner of his mouth. When we reached Koga's cave the burning was worsening. I found it harder and harder to fight unconsciousness. Not long after we arrived, Koga returned with Kaede on his back. The old woman didn't hesitate.

"Off with ye. Ye boys wait outside." Kaede said. Inuyasha and Koga nodded and retreated. She turned me on my belly and lifted up the back of my shirt. I felt something cold on the burning wound and jumped, wiggling beneath her hand. "Easy child."

"Kaede…" I whined pitifully. She added more of the cold medicine to my back and then wrapped a bandage around me. She let me lie on my back again as the burning started to subside. She felt my forehead and placed a cool cloth on it, then gave me some water.

"Rest easy now." She whispered softly, like a concerned grandmother almost. I looked up and saw Inuyasha standing at the mouth of the cave. Kaede got up from my side and walked over to Inuyasha. "Koga told me what happened, Inuyasha, ye should be very grateful. Let her rest tonight, then bring her back to me at the village where I can take proper care of her."

Inuyasha didn't nod or anything, he just looked at me. Koga helped the old woman onto her back again then ran off with her. Inuyasha looked back to make sure they'd gone. He came in and sat beside me. I looked up at him through half-closed eyes. "You okay?" I asked him quietly.

"Yes." He said simply.

"That's good." I replied.

"Why didn't you let Kikyo take me?" He asked, dabbing the cool cloth on my forehead again.

"Because you're my friend." I told him simply.

"You almost died when you took that arrow for me." He said.

"Don't tell me you were worried about little old me." I countered, I tried to chuckle but it hurt too much.

"I was, actually." He replied.

"Who are you and what have you done with Inuyasha?" I joked. I slowly began to move, he helped me sit up and let me lean on him. He shifted beside me and wrapped his arms around me to keep me from falling. I put a hand on his arm and laid my head against his chest. I heard his heart beat quicken beneath his kimono. He pulled a furred blanket up over my shoulders. "I did it because I didn't want her to kill you."

"You should have let her." Inuyasha said quietly. I snuggled into his chest and closed my eyes.

"I'm not that mean, am I?" I asked quietly. Feeling the burning pain subside even more. I was weakened and tired.

"No, I guess you're not." He replied. "But the things I said…"

"Ancient history." I told him. "Just shut up and let me sleep like this."

He smiled and held me tighter. "Thank you." He said.

"Anytime." I replied. I heard a gust of wind as Koga arrived once more. I opened my eyes slightly and wondered for just a second what he was thinking, seeing me and Inuyasha like this. But I was too tired to ask. The wolf demon crouched beside me and ran a hand down my hair. I smiled at him and snuggled into Inuyasha's chest.


End file.
